Gloyd's Past - Island of the Shadows
by DreamerAwaken
Summary: Halloween is near! There's nothing that can compare to the costumes, the pranks and of course, candy! The Sugar Rush racers are partly enjoying this, but something they did not expect happened- a new land have been unlocked! They go to meet the new racers sealed in that part of the game... but things are not ok. Sequel of Gloyd's Past, the lonely child! Ships involved.
1. Prologue

The bitter cold wind blew against its body; the dark whispers of its head guided its path through the darkness as the moon was hidden by the clouds, unable of shedding its light over the monotone land.

The silence of the forest itself was threatening, like if time had stopped right there; not even the leaves or the branches moved with the wind. The creature only keep walking forwards, ignoring the screaming that began to ring in its senses as it reached a hill, to then gaze below.

The reaper was out to hunt tonight.

The unmistakable, echoing sound of his scythe slashing his path filled the cold air, alongside the screaming of innocent candy people being soon silenced by him. Their code scraps were the only things that light the area, for a few seconds, before flying away to regenerate somewhere else. Such short-lasting blinks of light were more than enough to show the Reaper's features in the darkness of the area.

The creature silently watched as the Reaper kept swinging his deadly weapon towards almost anything that blocked his path, sending rock bits and branches flying behind as he soon disappeared into the dark woods.

The creature lifted its sight to where the code scraps went to; the town.

Releasing a soft, almost inaudible hissing sound, the creature returned to the forest.

It dissolved into a shadow, and out of anyone's sight.

Soon, soon it'll go there to 'finish' everything.

* * *

><p>Litwack stretched his arms and yawned, it was the ending the September and near the beginning of October and everything in his arcade was decorated for the upcoming Halloween celebration, in fact, the whole city got ready for this event quite early! Pumpkins were already on sale with special offers on candies and costumes, there were huge posters all around the town that filled it with shades of orange and black, images such as black cats and witches were seen on every store, and all the bakeries were offering pastries that matched the occasion.<p>

Mr. Litwack loved to see the city with this kind of movement, and he couldn't stay behind of it- he loved to see kids having fun after all, and that was one of the many reasons he decided to work on an arcade. Though he would usually just offer treats to all kids that arrived to the arcade, he wanted to do a little something different this year- though he would still give away candies for the young ones.

Litwack hanged a big advisement on the window from the outside with the words:

**'3x1 OFFERT! SUGAR RUSH MARATHON UNTIL HALLOWEEN! INCREDIBLE GIFTS FOR THE 3 HIGHEST SCORES OF THE DAY!'**

After going back inside his building and checking the games for the fourth time that morning, Litwack checked his watcher; it was around ten in the morning.

"Well, I guess it's time to take a coffee and then I'll settle everything else for the marathon" Yawning again, he went to his coffee machine to prepare an espresso, completely unaware of a certain sweet racer looking at the announcement through the screen of her game.

* * *

><p>Vanellope Von Schweetz, the current President of Sugar Rush, was sitting on her kart's hood in the middle of a plain road, her eyes fixed on the words written on the advisement, and her face showing somewhat of a serious mask.<p>

"What's up, Prez? Relaxing until the races start?"

She jumped slightly at the sudden voice near her and turned around to see Swizzle, she just smiled, but beyond amused. The darevil racer took notice of this "What's wrong? You look sour"

"I am feeling sour" She groaned as she put her hand under her chin "Can you read the words past the screen?"

Blinking at this, Swizzle obeyed and looked up "'Sugar Rush Marathon'? But that sounds pretty cool!" He looked at the raven girl with a slight smile, who just sighed annoyed.

"Yes, right, it DOES sound cool, but what else does it says?"

"It says it's a Halloween sale" He still seemed to don't get it.

Vanellope hit her forehead with her palm "Well, DOI! Think a lil' bit would ya? Halloween. What do you think it means?"

Swizzle let the words sink for a short while, and then he seemed to get it, smiling cockily "Oh, Gloyd?"

"Uh, yeah! Pumpkinhead!" She groaned again "You know how he's like in this season!"

The boy nodded, but he seemed beyond bothered by this "Well, you have only seen your boyfriend doing his stuff twice in two years, Vanellope" He reminded her.

Despite her obvious serious mask, Swizzle could notice her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink "So? Once, twice, a million times is almost the same in this case- Gloyd can go too far with his pranks!" She lifted her arms in the air.

Swizzle sighed and shook his head with a smirk.

"I know that Prez, but hey, thing's in his code anyways. Besides, asking him to don't prank people is like asking you to…"

"To…?" She looked at him.

"Like… asking you to don't glitch during races!" He put his hands on his pockets and leaned slightly towards her "That's unfair for most of us!"

Vanellope huffed "You know as well as everyone that the players choose when I can glitch" She rolled her eyes "Does Minty forgets to tell you this kind of stuff?"

He blushed "W-well, what I'm saying is- just as we can't force the players to don't use your power, we can't ask Gloyd to stop pranking us during Halloween time" Swizzle cleaned his throat "Besides, it's not like is that awful! Last time he only glued our karts to the ground with bubblegum, and that was during closing time"

"Taffyta had bubblegum on her seat and was stuck to it- I had to glitch her out" She reminded him.

Swizzle then corrected her "Before that, she was bragging out about her victory over us- so Taffyta kind of deserved that" The girl snickered at that, she remembered it too.

"OK fine, you won" She rolled her eyes "Another thing is that this week will be handful for us with this marathon. I better get everyone at the starting line before we-"

**"GLOYD! COME HERE!"**

The two kids jumped at the sudden scream and bolted their head up, just to hear Gloyd's laugh as he drove past them on his kart at full speed.

"HEY GUYS, BYE GUYS!" He said, never stopping his laughter. A trail of sugar sparkles following the brunet's path made them cough, just to hear another kart's engine roaring near them.

Swizzle looked at the distance, where a very steamed Rancis showed up- his hair was dyed marshmallow white! The once blonde racer was also on his kart chasing the prankster, his face red with rage.

"WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU ORANGEBOAR, YOUR HAT WITH BE NOTHING BUT PUMPKIN PUDDING- ALONGSIDE YOUR **FACE!**" He shouted as they soon disappeared from sight.

Both President and darevil blinked, before sighing and looking at each other.

Vanellope was the first one to speak "And so it begins…"

"Well, it's Rancis after all, the easiest person to tick off" Swizzle shrugged, but snickered "Man, even if we dye his hair with a lighter or darker shade of blonde, he'll go nuts!"

Vanellope, for once during their talk, laughed "Yeah, I never saw the big deal about it!" She hopped inside her kart and started it "Well, better go and gather everyone up; would ya check on the boys so we can start without any problems? Those two are on the list for the day after all- oh, and make sure pumpkin head won't mess anything with his pranks during the races" She looked at him, looking pretty dulled about the last thing.

Swizzle bowed comically "I'll bring your boyfriend before you can say 'Orangeboar'!" The boy laughed and waved her goodbye before he also hopped to his kart and the kids went their own way: Swizzle to get his friends and Vanellope to settle everything at the starting line.

But what none of them, or anyone knew at the moment, is that both actions will lead to one thing- a destination that will change many things this upcoming Halloween.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! About time I started to post this sequel huh? Yeah, not much going on- but I can assure this will get better! (OOPS SPOILERS) First chapter will be uploaded on October 1st! So please watch for it!**

**To give away a quick info- the ships involved here will be VanellopexGloyd, SwizzlexMinty and RancisxTaffyta! Though I'm not all into mushy stuff with characters I don't fully own, I will try my best to portray them correctly!**

**So, until next update guys! Tell me what you think in the Reviews page!**

**~DreamerAwaken (Vida-chan)**


	2. A new Island? Lamb of Memories

**A/N: Such a long wait! But as I promised, the first chapter of my sequel is now uploaded! I have been writing the first chapters these last few days so the next upload will be up soon, but I don't want to upload them all in a kick; that way it works better I think.**

**Also! There are a few cameos here- let's see if you guys can spot them all ;) **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The day was indeed a long, tiring one. Not even the high amount of Sweet Seekers, Cherry Bombs or character's items used that single day would be enough to describe it- however; it was not fully done yet!<p>

Gloyd Orangeboar, as weird as it sounded, was chosen multiple times that day. And even though his statistics were pretty low, it seemed the gamers didn't mind it as they were all slowly getting in the Halloween mood. So far he only came second in all races he's been chosen, right behind Vanellope, but he was alright with that.

Now, this was the final leap before the day ended, and the raven girl was once more in front of all the avatars!

Vanellope, however, was out of chances to use her glitching as the gamer who choose her used all the given opportunities; to avoid a Sweet Seeker, to pull ahead of Swizzle who was trying to block her path, and the last one was just to catch up with the rest after getting trapped in a Syrup puddle.

Not giving it much importance, she pulled up ahead for the Finish line, but she quickly noticed she missed the chance to grab an item box, which was quickly grabbed by Gloyd who was right behind of her.

**"SUGAR RUSH!"**

Gloyd smirked and looked up ahead, he could do it! The gamer clicked the item and soon he speed up right past Vanellope- first place!

**"FIRST PLACE! GLOYD ORANGEBOAR!"** Said the announcer's voice as the image of the racing track soon switched to Gloyd holding a golden cup. He raised his hands and grabbed the trophy with an excited face.

"Trick for you, treat for me!" He said his winning phrase as he smiled to the gamer, who just chuckled and fist bumped another girl next to her.

However, it was very late, and Litwack advised everyone in the arcade he was closing down for the night.

"Come get your prizes first!" He smiled, and soon he checked on the console's screen to see the three highest scores of the day. Litwack walked to the counter and was soon followed by the gamers "Alright! The person that goes as 'ANJ' got most victories next to 'VIC' and 'V-S'! Here are your prizes…"

As the man gave away the goodies to the three highest spots, no one was aware of the racers hopping out of their karts, looking extremely worn out as they winced.

"Ouch, my back!" Complained Minty.

Crumbelina sneered at her "Your back? Excuse me, but my whole body hurts after being fired so much!"

"I think my candle is broken" Whimpered Candlehead.

"Your candle is fine" Sighed Snowanna "My hair is a mess though"

"It always looked messy anyways" Snickered Taffyta "But yeah, the day dragged for too long, and to think we'll be racing tomorrow just like today…"

Jubileena grimaced "Ugh, can't you please not bring that up? I'm thinking about skipping the races tomorrow!"

Vanellope just watched this from her kart with Gloyd sitting next to her, and rolled her eyes as they saw the scene "Boy, I hope they won't get worse with each passing day…"

"Oh trust me, they'll be too tired to even open their mouths after all this races" He grinned as he held his trophy in front of him "It's been a long while since I won a golden cup, luck's been on my side today!"

Swizzle was sitting on his kart near them, and smirked "Yeah, but you'll be eating my dust tomorrow!"

Gloyd just smirked at his best friend "Try me, bro!"

"Whatever you two…" Vanellope smirked at them "But yeah, it's been a long day- I just want to see Stink Brain and chill out at Tapper's!"

But then, she felt a light tug on her hood, she looked behind to find Sour Bill, looking rather concerned about something, but still sour as usual "Hey Bill, what's up?"

"Something is… off in the code room…" He explained, this called everyone's attention to the point their complains ended. The code room hasn't been mentioned after they restored their memories, which was about two years ago.

In those past years a lot had happened in the game; just a few months later after the problem with Turbo and the Cy-Bugs, and after meeting the Sweet Tooth Racers, Vanellope found someone she thought had forgotten- the original King Candy.

He was trapped inside his own code box apart from the others just like she was. Turbo managed to use the King's avatar as his own to fool everybody.

It was quite an emotional reunion when Vanellope found him and recognized him as her father, but no one trusted him at first, specially Ralph; however the King proved them he wasn't going to harm his own people or his loving daughter. He also respected Vanellope's choice of being President instead of being recognized as a Princess like the code says, and now the two of them are ruling the game equally.

Bill kept explaining the problem to Vanellope "I tried to fix it myself with his highness King Candy, but I figured out it was a wiser idea to let you know about this first…"

"But, what's wrong with it?" Asked Gloyd.

"Yeah, and how long has it been 'off'?" Vanellope fully turned around towards the royal adviser, now looking concerned as well.

"Barely ten minutes ago…" He tried to remember "Probably after the final leap was done- the code room suddenly started to shine from behind the curtains…"

Swizzle looked at the sour candy "Final Leap? Gloyd was the one who won it..."

The raven girl looked at the prankster dully "You didn't do anything, did ya pumpkinhead?"

"Who are you taking me for?" Gloyd glared, though looking more confused "I would never set a foot in the code room!"

"Ma'am President, I want you to come to sort this out…" Said Sour Bill "And maybe we should take the rest of the avatars to the castle too, in case we need assistance"

"Don't you have enough people in the castle?" Piped Candlehead confused, but Sour Bill only rolled his eyes.

"For beginners, this seemed to have happened when Orangeboar crossed the finish line first, right? We should take him there since there might be a chance this is related… and as for you…" The sour candy ball sighed "I figured out you'll just tag along…"

Snowanna grinned "You know me well enough!" A few others nodded in approval.

Rancis stepped in front, he was wearing a brown wool hat that covered most part of his head "If you can do anything about MY hair, I would be deeply grateful" He glared at Gloyd "I just can't believe you did it! I couldn't even race today!"

"I told you that you just needed to wash your hair- it's not permanent" Gloyd rolled his eyes "But instead you just made a whole fuss about it when you could have just took a shower- the races started around an hour later after that!"

"Now, dudes!" Swizzle stepped in the middle to avoid them to get at each other's throats "This thing about the code room might be a serious issue, can't we just go to check already?"

"Indeed…" Sighed Sour Bill again "Let's go for once, I'm missing my coffee break…"

* * *

><p>After a quick ride in their karts, the racers reached the castle and made their way through the corridors at a fast pace with Vanellope and Sour Bill guiding them. Soon they stood in front of the throne room, which was behind a huge door that was heavily protected by the Oreo guards.<p>

"Halt" Said the captain, the only Golden Oreo that could be seen "Who's there with The President and Sour Bill?"

"Just the whole gang of racers" Explained the raven girl "It's ok cap'n, I allowed them to come"

"As you say, miss President" The Oreos moved aside, letting the racers in as the doors slowly opened.

Once inside the room, Vanellope saw King Candy sitting on his seat while gazing at the floor with a confused expression, but as he looked up he smiled goofily "Ah! Thankth for bringing them over Sthowa Bill!" He hoped from his spot to greet the racers "Welcome young oneth! I am happy to announce I jutht found out the problem we had!"

"Really dad?" Vanellope blinked "I thought it was serious!"

King Candy looked calm however "Well, maybe not lethally theriouth, but it made my code rush and hoo! Thtung me like a honeybee!"

Taffyta stepped in the front and stuck her lollipop out "What is it?"

"I apologize but, I might bring up thome nathty memorieth… " He said "Ath you all know, Turbo did not only messethd up with my daughter'th code, but with the game itthelf to asthure hith winning thtreak!"

"I know that one, even a few power-ups were forbidden!" Said Minty.

King Candy then walked to his throne, searched something in the back of a red velvet pillow, and found what seemed to be a folded cloth "Exactly dear Minty" He then walked past the racers and reached a cereal bar board with many papers pinned on it "And thith ith, indeed, another thing he blocked in hith thtay!"

He quickly hanged what he was holding in the board to then step aside to let the kids see, and everyone gasped.

It was the image of an island.

"Wait! You mean… there's a new land!?" Candlehead seemed excited.

"That's some… news" Sour Bill commented as he sipped his black coffee.

Crumbelina looked over "That might explain the issue in the Code Room then!"

"Why yeth!" The King said giggling "Like I said- thtung me like a honeybee! From thalmon to blue I thaw how the light changed all the colorth of thith room while I wath reading!" He stood near the kids.

"When I went to check I thaw thith one chetht glitching far away, tho I jutht reached it and opened it, jutht to find thith island wath locked by Turbo ath well, so I unlocked it to free the avatarth of the place!"

Taffyta rolled her eyes "I knew he was a cheater, but geez…"

"Why is it so bad that he blocked an island?" Candlehead tilted her head.

Rancis just sighed "It's believed that the characters of such places have got higher stats than us, and knowing Turbo, he probably didn't want to lose to them"

"Awesome! I can't wait to check out the place!" Said Swizzle with a few others nodding their heads, however, Gloyd walked towards the image.

And just stared at it closely in silence.

"Gloyd?" Vanellope looked at him confused.

"…" He then looked at them with a huge grin "Dudes! This is like, a Halloween island!" He pointed at all the details that proved his points: fields of bright orange pumpkins, a moon with a smile that assembled to the ones crafted on pumpkins, bats flying near a forest with fog covering most part of it, and so on.

Rancis grimaced as Gloyd just keep pointing out stuff at the map childishly "Oh joy… now I see how it'll go down" Next to him Taffyta and Jubileena nodded treir heads softly.

"Oh hoo! I jutht knew you'll LOVE to thee it Orangeboar! Thith land goeth by the name of Trickery Treat!" Said the King as he patted the boy's head "I think you should go and thee it right away!"

Vanellope looked a bit shocked by his choice "Right now? Dad, we have races tomorrow!" A few racers groaned as they remembered their day, and Gloyd just looked really disappointed.

However, King Candy seemed to be on the prankster's side that day "I athked our good fellowth of the Thweet Tooth kingdom to back you kidth!"

"Wait, Jimmy and the others?" Crumbelina seemed surprised, while Jubileena squealed out in joy "I will get to see Larry!"

"But, are we ALL going?" Rancis looked at Vanellope; his face showed nothing but displeasure over this turn of events "Why can't the guys of that island come here instead?"

"They can't" Said the King and everyone turned to him "Unlike our neighborth, thith characterth are in another island at the other thide of the thea; they can't come here, they are trapped there! Tho I think it would be a much thuitable idea if you all go there inthtead to meet them"

Jubileena looked sad now "I would like to stay here though…"

"Let's hold a voting then!" Said Adorabeezle with a light smile "Who's coming?"

Vanellope raised her arm "I'm President so, I'm pretty much obliged to show up"

"I'm going there! No doubt!" Said Gloyd with a grin that matched a Jack-O-Lantern's, Swizzle, Minty, Rancis and Taffyta raised their hands. The Halloween themed racer looked at the last two confused "You are going?"

"Got a reputation to keep" She said simply "If we are racing against these guys, I want to be there"

"Same here" Rancis shrugged; through he actually wanted to be near Taffyta, both to don't feel so lonely and in the case they had to race in pairs.

Gloyd rolled his eyes playfully, he knew Rancis too well "Whatever you say…"

"And you Mintz?" Smiled Swizzle.

Minty just crossed her arms "Knowing you and your way of racing? I will rather go there to avoid you getting in troubles with these avatars" Vanellope just nodded beside her, making the two boys smile sheepishly.

"Well, it'th thettled now!" King Candy said smiling "Go and tell your parentth the oneth who are leaving! Pack your thtuff! The retht mutht get ready for tomorrow, and help me to bring the neighborth to our kingdom, ho hoo!"

As they all nodded and left, King Candy stood there alone for a while fixing his bow and eventually decided to follow the young ones. But something sparkled in his eyes, and made him freeze his tracks.

He put his hand under his chin with a worried expression "Wait… Trickery Treat…?"

* * *

><p><strong>"Mom! Dad!"<strong> Gloyd ran to his house after parking his kart. He was probably the first one that ran out of the castle in his Halloween frenzy after hearing about the island "Hey! Big news!"

Hearing his cheery voice Spook, who was eating candy corn in the kitchen with both Gloyd's parents near him, squeaked in joy and flew outside to greet his owner by hugging the boy's face with his wings.

"Hey buddy!" Laughed Gloyd as he scratched the little's bat head, making his pet to squeak in delight.

Lady Pumpkin walked out and smiled brightly "He hee! Hi little pumpkin!" She kneeled down and picked her son, kissing his cheeks many times.

"Mooom!" Gloyd whined, but he was used to his mother doing that- Lady Pumpkin was like any young adult, giggly, jolly, enthusiastic and of course, loving "Put me down!" He laughed.

"I say, what is the matter?" Lord Gourd walked out, but also smiled "Ah, dear son of mine! When thee would show up, I kept wondering about!"

"Hi dad!" Gloyd was placed on the ground, but he was still bouncing on his spot. The two adults just chuckled.

Lady Pumpkin was the first to talk "What's that dear? A new prank? Something happened in the racetrack?"

The boy jumped high to her eye level "Both!"

"Both?" His parents said in unison with glee.

"I won first place today!" He raced back to his kart and picked his golden cup to show it to his parents. At the sight of it, Lady Pumpkin hugged him and Lord Gourd ruffled his hair.

"Well done~! I'm so proud of you!" She said.

As the hug ended, the Orangeboars walked inside the house and placed the golden cup on their highest shelf. Then they moved to the couch to eat a few threats and keep talking about today.

"You dyed Rancis' hair once more?" Lord Gourd sighed, but smiled still "Let us hope my friend Reese won't mind at all…"

Lady Pumpkin just giggled "Oh, you know Reesy! He would love to spend time with his son fixing his little blonde hair!"

Spook smiled as the family kept talking while he rested on Gloyd's lap _'Knowing Nuttingham, he'll probably join them for a bath!' _He snickered quietly.

Gloyd grinned "Now the biggest new I just heard of!" The two adults just chuckled at each other, probably because Gloyd was more or less going to talk about a new prank, or a shortcut he found at the racetrack, or-

"A new HALLOWEEN land appeared! I'm going to check it out soon!"

Lady Pumpkin gasped "A Halloween land you say!?" Her eyes sparkled, alongside Spook's "Oh my gobs, that sound a~ma~zing~!"

_'Yes it does!'_ Squeaked the little grey bat as he reached his owner's shoulder.

"Indeed!" Lord Gourd nodded next to his wife "But, when did this land appeared?"

"Today!" The boy hugged Spook "I bet it has to do with the fact I won first place! It's an island called Trickery Treat!"

To his surprise however, it seemed his parents were no longer there as they stopped talking. When Gloyd turned to them, the two looked to be in deep thought- and that wasn't normal.

"Trickery Treat…?" Lady Pumpkin looked at her husband "Dear, does it sounds familiar to you?"

Lord Gourd nodded "I shall not lie when I say 'yes'. In fact… this gut feeling I have, it is telling me something"

"Something like..?" Gloyd turned his head to see both his parents, waiting for the answer.

Finally, Lady Pumpkin answered, but she seemed pretty disappointed "Oh… nothing sweet heart! I think we saw that place once with your daddy, but I don't remember anything!"

Gloyd blinked "Is that so?" He smiled "Well, anyways. We're planning on leaving today! Can you help me pack some stuff? I think we'll stay there for a while as the ST racers will race for us!"

"Who else is accompanying thee?" Asked Lord Gourd.

"We are not that many… Me, Vanellope, Swizzle, Minty, Rancis and Taffyta" He counted with his fingers "The rest of the girls are neither interested in the land or hoping to see their boyfriends"

The woman giggled "Well, their lose~! I bet you all can have a lot of fun just by being so less! Oh, and since Vanellope's going, maybe you guys can enjoy yourselves even more~" She said mischievously, making Gloyd blush.

"Mom!" He exclaimed while his parents laughed, Spook included "Yeah, she's going, but I'm more anxious about that place!"

"Sure you are!" She giggled.

Rolling his eyes, Gloyd looked at his pet companion "What about you buddy? Wanna check it out with me?" Spook didn't have to think twice and nodded eagerly "That's the answer I was waiting for!"

Chuckling, Lord Gourd stood up and dusted himself off "Well then! Let's pack up for your travel, my son"

Gloyd cheered with Spook "Alright dad!" The four members of the family went upstairs to Gloyd's room and began to settle things in a candy corn bag. Lady Pumpkin made sure he had a clean pair of shoes and some wax to clean his beloved pumpkin hat, Spook was taking some of Gloyd's clothes out with a few toys from a box located at a tall shelf in the closet while Lord Gourd sent Gloyd for a little mission, he asked him to compare the candycorn of Sugar Rush with the one located at the new land.

"As silly as it may sound, I would like to know it from thee- shall the candy be better at that place, we would like a sample to see!" The man said as the shoved a bag of said candy in his son's bag.

As Gloyd was taking out some extra clothes out to finish packing his bag, Spook went to check the box that contained most of his toys. In said box there were also a few old toys that belonged to Gloyd in the past.

The bat decided to climb the big box to see what else he should take out, and then he found something that called his attention. He grabbed said object with his claws and began to tug it out- it was heavy!

"Uh, Spook?" Gloyd blinked as he glanced up to see his pet "Hey, what are you-?" Finally, the object went out from the box, but with the strength Spook used the object went flying behind! "Wha-!"

_THUD!_ It hit Gloyd right on the head, and though it wasn't a heavy object for himself it still sent him jumping a few steps back to maintain his balance. Lady Pumpkin looked worriedly at him "You OK, Pumpkin?" Spook reached his owner's shoulder and licked his face a couple of times.

Gloyd took the object off his face and shook his head "Uh, yes mom!" He looked at Spook with a smirk "Gee, just how strong are you? Don't take it all out on myself!"

_'Sorry master!'_ Spook smiled sheepishly, but then his gaze was fixed in the object Gloyd was holding, curiosity in his golden eyes.

It was a brown lamb plush, which was in a pretty bad shape, probably for being used too much in the past. One of its button eyes was missing, the wool was a bit scratchy, and the plush could use a quick wash.

"Huh, I don't remember this one at all…" Gloyd's first thought was to sniff it since most of his toys had smells, so he did, and he sensed a very faith smell of chocolate.

But then he saw a strange flashback.

_There was Swizzle, but a much younger version of his friend._

_And the lamb was next to Gloyd, it looked as good as new. Swizzle said something, and he answered, but he couldn't make out the words. However, there was a word he could understand._

_'Shey'_

"Gloyd? My son?" Lord Gourd shook the boy carefully, snapping him out of his thoughts "You alright? You spaced out"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine!" Gloyd smiled, though he was confused- what did he just saw?

He glanced at the sheep plush, and decided to save it in his bag. The boy had the feeling he needed to bring it to his travel.

Ignoring this and looking relieved, Lady Pumpkin giggled "Well now~ we just finished packing everything! I'm pretty sure we packed Spook's things too!"

Gloyd checked the bag to make sure he had everything for his bat and himself, and after a while he decided they had all the stuff they needed "Thanks mom! Thanks dad!" He smiled "I'll be leaving now then! I can't have the guys leaving to Trickery Treat without me!"

And with that, he raced downstairs with Spook after hugging his parents goodbye.

However, as they saw their son leave the house, both Lady Pumpkin and Lord Gourd couldn't shake an odd feeling off their minds.

Why was the name Trickery Treat so… _familiar_ to them?

* * *

><p>"OK, we ready?"<p>

Vanellope was carrying her pet rabbit Whipcream in the pocket of her hood; the rest of the racers, alongside the Sweet Tooth's avatars and the recolors, were at the beach to take a boat which was programmed to take them to the unlockable island.

Swizzle gave her a thumps up with Ty-Dye on his shoulder "I'm ready to go!" Minty and Taffyta were saying goodbye to their friends and Rancis was sitting on his brown bag, his hair was now golden and shiny after a long shower session- he was the last one to arrive because of it.

Gloyd was carrying Spook in his arms waiting for the girls to finish their talking, he then looked at Rancis confused "Hey man, where's your cat?" Indeed, Lord Nuttingham was nowhere to be found.

Rancis looked at him calmly "Oh, I don't think that taking him to that island would be a very good idea" He shrugged "Crumbelina will take care of him, besides, Nuttingham likes Cocoa's company"

"Good idea" Said the brunet nodding. After a while that seemed to have lasted forever, Taffyta and Minty joined their little group.

"Well, this is it!" Vanellope looked at the two crews of racers with a smile "You guys work hard until we come back, and if there's any problem, just go to the castle and ask my dad for help!"

"Is not like we'll burn the whole place in our stay" Jimmy rolled his eyes with a cocky grin, before wrapping his arm around Crumbelina "But, I'll still enjoy my stay!"

Crumbelina just pushed his arm away with a huff "Gee, moody" He grumbled.

"Hasta luego, amigos!" Larry took off his hat and bowed slightly while hugging Jubileena, who just giggled and nuzzled him.

Gloyd and Vanellope nodded at each other and stood at the bridge with the rest of the group. Far away, the boat came to view, and the racers began to wave them goodbye.

"Good luck!" Said Adorabeezle with a calm smile.

"Bye Minty!" Torvald and Sticky grinned at their sister.

Candlehead giggled "Have fun!"

"Don't worry" Tea smiled while holding Fang's hand "We'll make sure to keep things in order!" The twins next to them groaned.

"You're so…" "…not fun!" They said.

Vanellope snickered "Thanks guys! Good luck with everything!"

Once the boat arrived everyone came aboard quickly. Gloyd was the first to reach the front part to watch the clear sky with Spook. Minty and Swizzle joined him while Taffyta and Rancis went to save their belongings under deck.

The President entered the code to go to the island "Ready guys? We'll take off!" She clicked the button.

**'NEW DESTINY: TRICKERY TREAT!'** Soon enough, the boat took off at great speed.

"Whoo!" Gloyd grabbed his hat to prevent it from falling, Spook chirped excitedly as he also grabbed his crown, the two of them enjoying the wing hitting their faces. After a while, the boat seemed to have slowed down its pace enough to allow them to release their hats.

Vanellope glitched next to Gloyd with a smile "Well, that'll do for now, it might take a while to get there though"

Gloyd shrugged, smiling at her "That's fine by me"

"Look, gummy dolphins!" Said Rancis as he pointed at the teal, semi-transparent animals that were jumping a few meters away from their boat. A few other marine animals were spotted; pancake manta rays were poking their heads out and flapping their fins at the kids, gumdrop fishes of all colors could be appreciated circling around them as well as cherry jellyfishes "I should have brought a camera-" _Click!_

Taffyta was holding a pink caramel camera in her hands as she took a shot of all the creatures together "One step ahead of you" She smirked at Rancis, who just scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. Everyone decided to keep looking at the candy creatures that keep splashing around next to them.

"As long as a great white gummy shark won't show up…" Gloyd muttered, and then laughed as Rancis widened his eyes in panic.

Vanellope glared at him, but smirked still "Stop killing the mood would ya?" After a while though, the creatures seemed to start leaving the boat's side to swim somewhere else.

At first he seemed disappointed, but then Swizzle looked up and gasped lowly "Check it out guys, it's getting dark here!" He pointed up, indeed, the sky was degrading from their usual calypso tone with pink cotton candy clouds to a deep blue color "I can see a few stars, but I didn't see any sunset or anything!"

"Maybe it's by default" Minty looked at him as everything got dark when the boat advanced under the dark sky, the sea now looked completely different with the change of light "Halloween is celebrated during night, so I guess the island was programmed with a permanent night ambient"

The Swizz looked at her blankly "Does that mean they are always sleeping?"

Minty face palmed and sighed "Never mind…"

"This turned out to a fast travel, we'll be there soon" Vanellope smiled while her rabbit cheered, she hated to be still for long periods of time!

"Cool!" The brunet grinned at her, and Spook chirped in joy "Boy, I'm wondering what to do first once we get there"

"For beginners, don't prank the islanders" She said with a little smirk "Otherwise you'll get on their bad side"

Gloyd huffed, also smirking "And who says they won't prank us? It's a Halloween land Princess, and Halloween means nothing without tricking people!"

At this realization, she grimaced "It's official; I wanna go back- no way I'll deal with ten more pumpkinheads"

"Aw c'mon!" The boy laughed and hugged her "I betcha they are amateurs compared to me! Nothing to worry about"

Vanellope chuckled and returned the hug, Gloyd had a point- after all, now that they were dating she knew most of Gloyd's pranks; some of them were so complex that it impressed her how well he could work with them.

Some footsteps came from behind of them "Hey lovebirds" Called Taffyta, sticking her lollipop out "I think we arrived, check it out"

"Whoa…" Rancis looked ahead where the land was starting to show. The boat came closer and stopped at an old, worn-out wooden bridge that seemed to be about to collapse in any minute.

Everyone grabbed their packs; however they stood at the boat, watching the place.

There was nothing to be seen, except for death trees and fog covering the ground; no matter where you looked, everything looked the same- tones of grey and dark purple fading to black could be appreciated in the scenery, the trees and the branches were still as rocks, and it seemed not even the mist moved.

It was quiet, too quiet; the racers could hear their own breathing and the very light rustling of their hair. The wind was chilly yet weak, and it couldn't even move the dry leaves covering what could be seen of the ground because of the thick mist.

Even if they saw a few stars on their way, the sky was now dark and full of huge purple cotton candy clouds, and not even the moon could be seen through them. Spook chirped weakly as Whipcream and Ty-Dye hid behind their owners.

This was absolutely nothing like the map they saw back at home.

"..Am I the only who's feeling uncomfortable?" Whispered Rancis, but with the silence of the place, it sounded like he was talking normally. Taffyta shook her head at his question, looking around.

"What's with this place? I thought we would see pumpkins and all that Halloween jazz…" She walked out of the boat with Rancis, the bridge creaking loudly under their feet.

Swizzle and Minty followed after her with Gloyd and Vanellope, and soon they hurried to step on firm land as the bridge just creaked louder. The boat then took off somewhere, the sound of the engine roared so loud they all jumped in surprise.

Gloyd was the first to regain his composure, and held Spook near his chest as the bat seemed to be afraid of the surroundings "Ok, seriously… what is this place?" He looked at Vanellope confused "Are you sure we're at the right island?"

"Yes we are, I checked the direction twice…" She also looked around, feeling nervous.

"But… I don't see anything that proves it" Minty spoke up "Just like Taffyta says, there's nothing related to the map! Where are the Jack-O-Lanterns? Or the full moon?"

Swizzle looked at her, then at the rest of his friends "Something's wrong here man…"

"I think the same, we need to check it out" Said Vanellope as she stepped in front of them "We need to reach the town quickly"

Rancis looked nervous "A-are you serious!? We're going to pass…" He pointed to a pathway between the dead trees, which looked more threatening than welcoming for the visits "…Through there?"

Everyone looked at the entrance to the forest, and then turned to Vanellope, most of them looking unsure and believing Rancis' words.

Seeing this, and also wanting to know what was happening, the pumpkin headed racer had an idea.

"What's that Fluggerbutter?" He looked at Rancis with a smirk "Are you_ scaaared?_ It's OK if you want to go home to cuddle your kitty!" He teased, making the blonde boy frown with a huff.

"No I'm not!" He crossed his arms "I don't care what you say, I'm coming!" A grin crawled to Gloyd's features, success.

"Now is not the best time to start an argument Gloyd" Said Minty stepping in the middle of the boys "Vanellope's right, we must check if there's anything wrong with this place, after all, Turbo messed with its code- if there is some serious damage we'll return to Sugar Rush and fix it up"

Swizzle grinned next to Taffyta "Well said Mintz!" She blushed as he looked ahead "Let's do this quickly then!"

* * *

><p><em>"We're lost aren't we"<em> Muttered Rancis.

"Shut it!" Vanellope groaned.

The six racers have been walking around the forest for an endless amount of time, but there was still no sight of the town. It was almost pointless to keep walking; it seemed the trees were some kind of loop as they just couldn't stop showing up as much as they walked, and thanks to their long branches intertwining above them, it was impossible to see the sky and use it as a reference to guide themselves.

It was a very uncomfortable walk; even the dry leaves cracking under their steps made them flinch. Swizzle and Minty were walking holding hands like Gloyd and Vanellope, while Rancis was staying close to Taffyta's side as his nerves were slowly devouring him.

"Calm down Rancis…" She told him calmly, but it wasn't going to be enough for him.

"Calm!?" He exclaimed, making everyone to turn at him "We're lost in the middle of this creepy forest! We have been walking for hours by now with no clue of that town! Who knows what might show up here!"

Gloyd looked at Rancis and rolled his eyes "And you think we're not nervous too?"

"Ugh, then don't blame me for being scar-!"

_CRACK!_

They all yelped at the sudden noise and stood close to each other, looking at all directions.

Minty and Swizzle looked at each other "N-no one stepped on a branch?" She muttered as she gazed at the ground.

"No" Gloyd hugged Vanellope. The raven girl gulped as felt her legs weak.

They heard some leaves moving, but there was no wind to do that.

_CRACK!_ There is was again, closer this time around.

Rancis was pale "I-I told you something would appear!"

Taffyta turned her glare towards a bush right in front of them; it was shaking "Don't move…" She whispered. Everyone turned towards the bush wide eyed and not daring to make any movement.

The blonde racer was shaking like a leaf right behind of her "W-what is it?" Just then, two golden orbs lit from behind the leaves, cutting the racers' breathing.

And then they jumped off the bush straight at them.

**"AHHH!" **They all screamed as they held each other even closer, hoping for the worst thing to happen.

Silence then filled their senses; no one dared to talk or open their eyes for what seemed like forever… Until a little sound broke that moment of tension.

"…Meowr?"

Minty snapped her eyes open in surprise, and right in front of them was a little black cat wearing a red ribbon, with his head tilted to a side innocently "…Really?" She said as she moved slightly away from Swizzle, who just looked curiously at the little animal.

Gloyd loosened his grip on Vanellope, sighing relieved "Oh, just a cat…" During the scary moment, the pets were hidden behind their owners, and they peeked their heads out slightly to see the small feline.

Feeling her body recovering from the weakness moment, the President breathed deeply "Gee, what a troublemaker" Vanellope kneeled in front of him, smiling lightly, but the cat seemed to be watching them intensely.

She raised her hand and caressed his head "We are so paranoid in this forest you almost gave us a heart attack buddy!"

_"…Sorry about that"_

Everyone froze, and they all slowly fixed their gazes on the cat. Vanellope moved her hand away, looking at him "What…?"

The cat just watched their shocked expressions, then backed off a few steps and looked at them again "You shouldn't be here you know…" He began to glow a faith white color, and then started to change his form right in front of them!

"Whoa, what the-!?" Swizzle backed off shocked. Vanellope quickly stood up and Gloyd stepped right next to her as they all watched the unexpected event.

When the light faded, there was no cat to be found, but instead a little boy wearing a black cat hood with ears and tail included. Unlike his now discovered cat form, he had dark orange curly hair, aquamarine eyes, fair skin and freckles between his eyes. The boy looked slightly younger than any of them, and oddly enough he didn't have a blush like the racers.

Seeing all the confused but shocked faces, he decided to speak "My name is Rufus Pathcross…" He introduced himself, looking serious, but also worried "You are in great danger here- you must leave!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this is it! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Don't worry, next part will follow up soon!**

**So? I bet you found the cameos, I'm not really good at hiding some eater eggs, but I'll still put them here!**

**1. The names Litwack mentioned as winners: ANJ (Sparks-Sparta), VIC (Me) and V-S (V-Striker, also known as HardWrapping!)**

**2. Spook and the Sugar Pets! I had to add them, seeing I'm not really paying any attention to the little bat! Besides, I'm pretty sure I never described well enough how his relationship with Gloyd was like.**

**3. Sweet Tooth Racers! I mean, c'mon, HardWrapping is just awesome! I'm pretty sure the whole WiR fandom here at Fanfiction knows his story 'Rival Racing'! Not only that but he included little Spook in two of his stories! Aside of a cool writer he's a good roleplayer like my buddy Sparks-Sparta, and lemme tell you, thanks a lot for your patience during those RPs! **

**With all that said, until next time readers!**

**~DreamerAwaken (Vida-chan)**


	3. Our Past, our Problems

**A/N: Hey guys! This will be a short information- I'll be uploading references for the characters that will appear in my story! Go check my DeviantArt page if you're interested, my name's DreamerAwken :)**

**With that said, I hope you enjoy this update!**

* * *

><p>The racers could do nothing but stare at the boy that just showed up, telling them to return to their island. Something was up and they all knew that, and it was bad by the looks of it.<p>

However, obsessed to know what was going on to take responsibility of it, Vanellope stood her ground.

"What do you mean we should leave?" She asked "We just got here!"

Rufus Pathcross, as he was called, just glared at her "And you guys are lucky that you're still in one piece! But you need to go back- this place is not longer safe!"

Gloyd frowned with Spook on his shoulder "But there must be a reason for it, isn't it?" Truly, he felt really disappointed of how different this all was compared to the picture they saw back at the castle, but just like Vanellope, he wanted to know what was happening.

"Whatever it is, it's not really the visitor's business! This is not a resort of some sort!" The boy was showing sights of not trusting the racers.

However, he was young, and that might give them some points in favor.

With this in mind, Minty looked at Rufus and raised her hands to signal him to calm down "Please listen to us, we came from Sugar Rush, and this land was unlocked for us recently-"

The boy widened his eyes "Wait, Sugar Rush? You guys are the main icons?"

"Just a few of them" Taffyta put her hands on her hips "The rest is back home"

"As I was saying" Minty frowned slightly, she hated being interrupted "We saw a map of this island, but it's nothing we thought we would see- and it's clear something must be very wrong since you keep telling us to return"

Vanellope nodded next to her and pointed at Rufus "Look cat boy, we want to help! Is there's something wrong with this place, it's my work as President to try and fix it"

Rufus looked at her doubtfully "I know who you are and what you can do, in fact, all the island have heard about the main icons" The racers looked surprised at this "But maybe it won't be enough because this is too serious!"

"How so?" Gloyd looked at Rufus hoping for an answer, but he just shook his head.

"I can't just say it if you can't do anything about it" The boy looked away, but they saw he was starting to doubt his own words. Minty smiled to herself, it seemed her idea worked.

Swizzle stepped in front "How can you be so sure about that? Maybe we can solve this out… whatever it is!" Ty-Dye screeched in approval and Rufus looked at the duo.

Rancis, who didn't say anything at first, huffed "Let's be honest, we won't leave, me included" He crossed his arms "This place creeps me out, yes, but we won't get a 'no' as an answer if the matter is that bad; no matter where you see it, you don't have much to say here"

Rufus looked at Rancis, then at the rest of the crew in complete silence "… Alright" The boy with the cat hood sighed in defeat "...Let's get out of the forest first then, after all, the town is the other way around"

Everyone stood stiff as rocks for mere seconds.

"WHAT!?" Rancis widened his eyes and raised his arms "You mean we were walking through this forest all this time and we were taking the wrong way!?"

Rufus tilted his head, but with a slight mischievous smile "We like to prank people after all; to welcome them 'nicely', we make them walk through the Chain Forest"

Gloyd looked around "Chain Forest?" He looked at Rufus "Why is it called like that?"

"Oh, this forest is a loop; no matter where you go, the same trees will show up over and over, like a chain! While the exit…" He pointed right behind of them "…is just mere meters away, but since no one dares to look behind they can never tell this, and instead keep walking for hours with no process"

The kids looked behind of them; indeed, the exit was not too far away from where they were standing. Most of them groaned, though Gloyd looked impressed- that was a well pulled prank.

"…At least we know the programming is working fine…" Muttered Vanellope with Taffyta nodding her head next to the President, before they all walked out of the forest with Rufus guiding them. They followed him to yet another path that was very well hidden behind an old tree's trunk, the whole track was as quiet as the forest itself.

Gloyd looked at Rufus who was in front of him, his thoughts wandered as the prankster looked at his friends while they made their way to the town- just what was going on? Why was the boy so reluctant to accept their help?

And a thought that crossed their minds at once. Was it _that_ bad?

It made them flinch slightly.

Wanting to break the uncomfortable silence, Swizzle spoke up "So, Ruff… are you some kind of a cat hybrid? You don't really look like a racer for me" The mentioned boy looked back at the darevil.

"Actually, I'm not a cat hybrid or anything" He replied, smiling a little "I'm able to change forms as a little animation I have by default, but I'm a racer alright, a 'bad luck' racer"

"A what?" Minty blinked confused as they crossed a short stone bridge; judging by the marks on the ground below it, it seemed a river once flow there, but now it was completely dry.

Rufus smiled a bit wider and he jumped on a few thick roots from a huge tree "A bad luck racer. You see, it's one of the categories we use here" He changed back to a cat and turned to the kids "As you may know, black cats crossing your path are a signal of bad luck- I just change my form when the player who choose me wins or loses the game"

"Does that work at the racing track?" Asked Taffyta, seeming slightly interested in that subject.

"...Well, yeah, depends on the circumstances; most times I need the help of my character item" He turned back to normal and fixed his hood, looking rather uncomfortable "To make it clearer for you… we're just five racers, all of us different in a way, but also similar- we together represent Halloween" At this his voice faded slightly, but no one seemed to notice "There are the 'Bad luck' racers, the 'Halloween icons' racers and one 'Fear' racer in our team"

Vanellope got to his side with Whipcream on her hood "And who are the other guys called?"

"Yeah, and how do their categories work like?" The pumpkin headed racer was also curious, all of them forgetting about the problem for a few moments.

However, this 'problem' was about to show up.

Rufus was so concentrated in the talking he didn't notice they arrived at the entrance of town; the paths of the small place were made of purple rock candies, the Germany-like houses were made of white chocolate covered waffler cookies with dark chocolate wood decorating them, and there was an abandoned fountain at the middle of the plaza, with tall light posts decorated with metallic flowers lighting the fountain with their weak lights and broken glasses; the weirdest thing about the town was that the houses had no decorations for Halloween, but they had a good reason for that...

As he was about to answer their questions, a terrifying sound make him gasp and quickly stop his tracks with the racers behind of him.

It was a deep, raspy groaning sound.

And it was coming closer to them.

"H-hide!" He said, looking panicked as he ducked to a nearby boulder that looked like a broken statue of some sort. Not wanting to find out what was scaring him, Vanellope and the others followed him and hid themselves behind the huge boulder.

None of them spoke or asked what was going on, because the groaning just kept getting louder and louder, until they seemed to stop in one spot.

Trembling, Rufus poked his head out. And he seemed like he saw the last thing he'd wished for "Oh no…" He whispered fearfully "It reached town…"

"Who?" Asked Swizzle, Rufus quickly shushed him as he turned around and sat, he then whispered even lower.

"T-the Silhouette…"

Everyone blinked, completely clueless of what he was talking about. Vanellope decided to peek out with both Gloyd and Swizzle, who left their pets safely on the ground, while Taffyta, Rancis and Minty just sat next to them, not daring to look.

What the three kids saw left them paralyzed in fear.

_'The Silhouette'_ Rufus mentioned was a monster; it was giving its back to the racers, but it was more than enough to make them feel vulnerable.

The creature was probably three times as tall as they were, more or less Ralph's stature, but instead of having huge arms this monster was skinny, _very_ skinny; they could swear the marks at the sides of it were its rib bones. Its body was… strange; it was black, with dark purple lightnings, but it seemed to not being completely solid as some mysterious black smoke surrounded most part of its figure, with a small portion of its body dissolving to create it. The proportions were also irregular, and they were constantly changing forms.

Both Vanellope and Swizzle quickly sat, they looked at each other in shock before glancing at their friends, and then they turned to Rufus "What… in the Arcade is that!?" Vanellope whispered very quietly, but it was noticeable she was having a hard time holding back her voice.

"W-we don't know!" The cat boy whispered back as he hugged his knees "That thing never showed up around here, but it's very dangerous! And that is the main reason of our troubles!"

While they were talking to Rufus trying to know what they were supposed to do now with the creature near them, Gloyd couldn't take his gaze off the monster.

There was something off about him, he couldn't… make out the words Vanellope was saying, and he couldn't move to sit back either.

The brunet just kept watching quietly, feeling a strange attraction towards the Silhouette.

_'Don't… lis… ar…'_

"Huh…?"

Gloyd blinked, did it said something?

_'…on't… lia…'_

There it was again, he was sure of that. The raspy voice was slowly getting into his head.

But… what was it trying to _say?_

Quietly, and seemingly to be in a deep trance, Gloyd walked out of his hiding spot, and walked straight at the monster.

None of the racers noticed his absence at first as they were trying to make up a plan to escape safely, but Spook saw his master and chirped at them in desperation.

As they all turned to where the prankster was once standing, they saw Gloyd was already standing a few steps behind the creature.

"Gloyd…!" Swizzle called after him, but his voice was so low the brunet couldn't hear him. Spook and Ty-Dye were flapping their wings madly and Whipcream covered her eyes with her ears.

Vanellope and Rufus were equally panicked, their eyes wide open "What are you doing!?" She whispered scared.

"It's no use…" Rufus looked petrified "T-the Silhouette… that thing is able to put people in trance!"

"What!?" Rancis squeaked out.

Gloyd ignored all their desperate calls; he slowly raised his arm towards the creature as to touch it. He could no longer feel the world around him as the stared at the skinny creature, the prankster was feeling as light as a feather, and he almost couldn't register the ground under his feet.

"…What were you saying…?" He asked in a whisper.

The Silhouette turned around at neck-breaking speed, in fact, its whole neck twisted in a way that made an unholy sound of cracking bones to allow it to face the young prankster. It had no visible eyes, but there was smoke coming out from where they were supposed to be; the mouth was of a liquid appearance, and it was dripping some dark fluids.

It hissed lowly at Gloyd, and raised its arms towards him as it turned its body around.

"Gloyd!" Vanellope screamed as she couldn't keep it in any longer, and it was able to snap Gloyd out of the trance.

"W-what!" Gloyd shook his head, just to look up in time to see the creature throwing over himself, releasing an ear-bleeding screech that paralyzed him in his spot.

**"KIYAAAAAH!"**

He shut his eyes tightly and covered his face with his arms in a weak attempt of protection.

All the racers shouted after him, Spook was screeching wildly, but he couldn't move out of the way.

Gloyd waited for the impact…

…but it never came.

Blinking confused, he slowly looked up.

The monster was _there,_ millimeters away from his body; its black, smelly mouth was open enough to fit the prankster's head in, and it was frozen in a pose that clearly showed its intentions to kill the brunet.

But it didn't.

Instead, the Silhouette began to drop its arms slightly to a side. It closed its mouth, and faced Gloyd once more in absolute silence.

No one could see it, but Gloyd could swear he saw a shocked expression on the monster's face.

And he could listen its frantic breathing.

_'Y… ouuu…'_ It hissed.

Gloyd looked up at it and gulped; his own knees were ready to give up.

It hissed louder _'Ouu… Yy**you…!'**_ The creature's breathing was near out of control, as if it was near from having a heart attack.

The monster brought its claw like hands to its face, scratching it badly, and then it arched it body back in an abnormal way.

_**"KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**_

And with that, the Silhouette dissolved to what seemed to be a thick black mist, to then leave the town in a rush.

All the racers stood there, shocked, and unblinking.

Gloyd's legs grew tired and he quickly sat on the floor, but then he felt his head spinning badly.

Next think they knew. Gloyd had fainted and collapsed to the ground.

* * *

><p>"Damn…" A boy grunted as a few cans with several types of food fell from his arms.<p>

He hissed and picked them up again to run towards a certain direction: an old house situated in the middle of the forest. He and a few other survivors were living there, they were waiting for him right now, and he had to head back before-

_'…Viper?'_

He stopped. 'Viper' began to look around frantically with wide eyes, that voice…!

"Maria?" The boy turned his head to all sides "Maria! Where…!?"

_'Right… here…'_

Viper looked to his right, and widened his eyes even more at the sight of a beloved someone.

Running after her and leaving the cans scattered on the ground, he began to follow the owner of the voice through the forest "Maria…! Pleassse wait! Come back!"

_…_

**_SLASH!_**

Silence soon returned to the always still forest.

* * *

><p>A loud bagging noise was heard on her door, followed by a loud shout calling her "SPELLINA! Open! Open up!"<p>

She groaned, what did that dumb boy did just now? Kicking away a few old books lying around, the female racer stomped her way to the door, and opened it in a fast swung "What!?"

However, the sight she was greeted with made her understand the rush.

Right at her door, Rufus and some unknown racers were supporting a boy who seemed unconscious "Spelly! Help us here!" Said the cat boy worriedly.

"You know where to go!" She said sternly as she moved aside "Go lay him in a couch and I will try to make some herbal tea- you better have not attracted that _'thing'_ too!"

As they made their way inside, he answered "Actually, this guy scared it back at town!" She looked shocked.

Rufus, knowing his way through the house, went to a nearby bookshelf and picked one normal looking red book, but it turned out to be a switch. As it clicked, the whole bookshelf turned to a side, showing a secret hallway that lead somewhere underground.

Not losing any time, the racers went through there. It was dark, and it only became darker when Spellina closed the secret door. As they made their way just by a few more steps however, they saw a comforting light- a fireplace was lighting a small room with even more books, empty cans of food and a few blankets lying near huge pillows.

"Here…" Vanellope helped Rancis to lay Gloyd on a couch near the pillows. She looked worriedly at the prankster before turning to Rufus with a more serious expression "Ok, I think there's something you must explain here"

Rufus sat extremely close to the fireplace, laying like a cat on a small pillow "I told you this wasn't going to be so easy…"

"Easy!?" Rancis snapped at him "You should have at least told us about that monster!"

**"SHUT UP BLONDIE!"**

All of them cringed, and slowly turned to the new face. It was a girl dressed as a witch, with the nastiest glare they had ever seen- nastier than Calhoun's at least "Only **_I_ **can snap at Rufus for being himself!"

She was wearing a puffy black and white dress with a big matching hat and boots; she was also carrying a crossed brown bag. The girl had dark brown hair with light brown highlights, light green eyes and her skin was fairer than Rufus', and just like him she had no blush.

"Sorry for the problems Spelly…" Rufus' cat hood lowered its ears "I, um… I tried to tell them to leave but…"

She however crossed her arms and sneered at Vanellope "I don't blame you, six against one?" Spellina frowned "What are you doing here? We have enough problems here if you haven't noticed!"

Vanellope looked nervous, this girl looked like she was about to throw the heaviest book to their heads "I'm the… President of Sugar Rush" She started "We came here after hearing this land was unlocked! At first we just wanted to introduce ourselves but…"

"Lemme guess, this wasn't as you expected and you wanted to play heroes convincing Rufus you could help?" She raised her eyebrow tauntingly as Rufus scratched the back of his neck. The racers looked at each other, how did she know that?

The cat boy looked nervous between the Sugar Rush racers and his best friend "Well, at least we're in a save spot, how about if… we introduce ourselves for starters?"

"Agreed, seeing we'll be staying longer than we expected…" Minty glanced at Gloyd's sleeping frame.

Vanellope sighed "Well, I go first" She looked at Spellina "My name's Vanellope Von Schweetz, and this guys here are a few of the racers from the Sugar Rush kingdom" She gestured at her friends, and then Whipcream jumped to her head "And this is my pet Whipcream"

"I'm Taffyta MuttonFudge, one of the tops" The pink girl put her lollipop in her mouth with a hand in her hip.

"Rancis Fluggerbutter" He fixed the twirl of his hair, but unlike when he was at home, he looked more anxious than cocky "I'm also on the top spots..."

Minty bowed slightly "I'm Minty Zaki"

Swizzle waved slightly with his macaw on his shoulder "Yo, name's Swizzle Malarkey, this guy's Ty-Dye…" He looked at the last boy worriedly "And… he's Gloyd Orangeboar, one of my closest friends"

Gloyd just keep sleeping with Spook cuddled on his chest. The little bat looked up at Spellina and chirped weakly. This made her drop her guard; as much as she disliked pretty much everything, Spellina had a very weak spot for animals.

She walked near a teapot and poured some boiling water in a cup before facing them again "My name is Spellina Magicwhisper; I'm a 'Halloween Icon' racer" She then walked over Gloyd with the tea in her hands, which released a strong smell of herbal leaves.

"Help me here would you?" She looked at Swizzle. The adrenaline seeker boy got to Gloyd's side and Vanellope picked Spook "I need him to sit or something so he can take a sip of this medicine"

"How about this?" Swizzle put a pillow under Gloyd's head and tilted it slightly upwards "We can't sit him in this state"

Spellina just nodded, and got the tea near Gloyd's mouth. She then poured a small quantity of it into his mouth.

Vanellope looked from her side with a worried Spook"Is he supposed to drink that?"

"No" She replied as she set the cup somewhere nearby and pet Spook under his chin "He's supposed to feel it, but don't worry batty, he'll wake up very soon"

All the racers looked at each other confused, but Spook was able to hear a fair gurgling sound coming from his owner. Suddenly Gloyd snapped his eyes open, making them gasp out of surprise.

The prankster quickly sat up and spat the tea, making a disgusted sound afterwards "Ah, sherbet!" He cursed and cleaned his tongue with his sleeve "What is that thing!?"

"Told you" The witch racer shrugged as the rest of the crew just blinked, expect Rufus who snickered "Good one, Spelly!"

"Squeak!" Spook chirped overjoyed as he wiggled free from Vanellope's arms and threw himself over Gloyd's chest, snuggling close to his dear owner. The boy looked down at Spook and hugged him back with a light smile, to then see his surroundings.

"Where are we?" He looked at his friends confused.

Swizzle put his hand on the prankster's shoulder "Dude, you alright? You fainted after that monster left!"

"What were you thinking Orangeboar!?" Vanellope glared at him, but she was deeply relieved he was conscious "That thing would've turned you into scrap code!"

Rufus quickly stepped in front of the raven girl "You don't have to have to blame him! The Silhouette is able to do that!"

"How come?" Taffyta looked at Gloyd, who seemed to don't understand a single thing going one.

The witch racer spoke up "It can attract people to possibly devour them later" Even with all the shocked stares she got, Spellina opened her bag and took out a very old book, it had tears on the covers and the pages were yellow, as if it was exposed to the sun for days.

She moved a few pages and read out loud "Shall one stare at its blackest soul, shall them became lost in its void" The witch racer looked up, a more serious expression on her features "But there's something troubling me- Rufus" The mentioned looked at her "Is it true that you were saying? This boy scared the creature while you were goofing off at town?"

He quickly nodded his head "Right in front of our eyes Spelly! Didn't we!?" Rufus turned to the racers, ignoring the insult his friend gave him, and they all nodded their head slowly, but Gloyd just seemed more confused now.

"The question is: How?" Spellina got near Gloyd, who seemed nervous under her taunting stare "Listen up, that creature has been hunting us for years, and a few of us have disappeared already! How could someone like you be left without a single scratch after approaching it!?"

Gloyd raised his hands in defense "Whoa witchy-!"

"Spellina" She glared.

"Spellina, I don't know!" He looked at his friends and then back at her "Like Rufus said! I was under its' powers or whatever and next thing I know the thing scrambled away!"

Not finding any solid information, she groaned and put her hand on her forehead in frustration "Of all possibly people who could have helped us…!"

"Hey" Vanellope glitched in front of her "Monster or not, we're here, and we promised we would try and help!" She frowned "At least don't blame it all on us!"

Minty stepped in front "But we don't know what's going on here, and if you keep being so reluctant to explain, we won't get anywhere!"

"I'm surprised they still want to lend a hand to these guys…" Muttered Rancis, Swizzle looked him and shrugged "We have a bad reputation with the unlockables I guess…"

The witch and the cat racers looked at the kids, then at each other, as if they communicated via their minds. After a while that seemed to have lasted an eternity, Spellina groaned "Fine… but it's such a long story…"

"Please Spelly…" Begged Rufus with shiny eyes "Long or not, it's a story! And you're one good story-teller!"

"This is not a bed time story Rufus!" She scolded him, but he turned into a cat to look at her adorably, hitting her weakest spot "…Everyone please get a comfy spot or whatever while I find the page…"

They did as instructed. Rancis and Taffyta sat on a fluffy grey blanket near the fireplace with Rufus next to them on his pillow near the fire. Swizzle and Minty sat on a huge pillow near the couch, bouncing slightly, while Vanellope sat next to Gloyd on the sofa with their pets cuddled on their laps.

Just a few minutes later, Spellina seemed to have found the page, but instead of start reading it she left the book in a coffee table at the center of the room and searched for something in her bag. She then took out a small black velvet bag; the witch themed racer poured a tiny quantity of a strange looking powder on her hand, and then she threw it towards the fire, which changed from bright orange to light blue.

"What's that for?" Rancis looked shocked at the fire, but Rufus just shushed him.

Spellina picked another small quantity, and this time around she threw it over her book. It glowed with the same color as the fire. She finally sat away from the rest of the curious racers and lifted her arms.

"This situation we're living right now is not recent; all this took place in our island seven years ago…" She moved her hands, and the fire suddenly started to circle around the book. The racers gasped lowly at this "Now I'll start explaining…"

_'Long time ago, the peace and the pranks were an everyday thing in our lives'_ Spellina's voice echoed in their heads as the flames changed their shape to lots of candy people and kids playing around _'As a land of Halloween, everything was just candy and games for us islanders, and we enjoyed every bit of it as we thought our life was nothing without following the traditions of Halloween, but all this was under the control of our Mayor…_

_…His name was Duskus Crowmaster, the Poet of the Night'_

The shape of a bigger man appeared, making the other shapes disappear as the left fire surrounded him as shapes of crows _'He was powerful over us, but we never got to see him outside of his house. The man worked hours indoors to make our island the jolly place it once was, and was idolized for generations… but one day, a dark truth was found'_

The fire changed once more, this time with the Mayor, standing in front of what seemed to be… a crib.

_'It was discovered our Mayor experimented with his own people, us racers'_

"What!" Vanellope's eyes widened as the shape of the Mayor seemed to be messing with the code, to then make the baby inside the crib start glitching violently.

"There's a reason of why I can turn into a cat during races…that's not part of my original code" Muttered Rufus, they all stared at him wide eyed.

Spellina stopped the story telling "The Mayor was obsessed about creating the perfect racers for the perfect island" She frowned "Me and the other racers were part of his experiments; he messed with our codes when we were 'newborns' as far as the program can tell us" The witch racer pointed to her magic "We can do… some tricks ourselves now, but it's not ours in it's totality"

"That's sick!" Swizzle looked mad "Why would he even consider doing something like that to his own racers!?"

"Can't we just keep listening to the story?" Taffyta looked at Swizzle angrily. Spellina cleared her throat and began to move her hands again, and the image of the tortured kid soon changed into a much bigger image; a war.

_'As the truth was found…' _The fire shapes were now fully detailed people, with rage filling their eyes getting closer to the racers, their blue light was radiating an unknown strength_ 'The islanders wanted to go against their leader for his unmistakable crimes against them. They were able to find us at the castle and protected us as the war erupted hours later'_

The fire just got brighter, almost blinding them, and then they saw the violent image of the Mayor being killed and tortured by his people.

_'Their wrath was so strong, that one of them found their way towards the code room'_ Flames moved around the kids, turning into code boxes, with the biggest one being pulled by its cables.

_'And they deleted him out of the game, forever'_

The box began to glitch as all the connections were pulled off, until it was destroyed by the islander using his lance, the bits of what was left of the box soon disappeared from sight.

Rancis looked shocked "O-oh gob…"

Spellina changed the image once more that showed the mansion destroyed in a few places, and the islanders celebrating their victory. They were all so… happy; holding each other and screaming at the top of their lungs.

_'With the abusive Mayor gone for good, our people thought peace would eventually rule our island… but they were dead wrong…_

_…There was something else that showed up'_

At the last thing, a new fire shape was added behind the others

_'They called it The Silhouette'_

The shape of the monster raised its arms and extinguished most of the islanders, while a few last ran away carrying the baby racers. The fire then concentrated in one place, to then light brightly once more and forming the shape of the Silhouette, making the racers hug the one next to them out of shock and fear.

"And this monster have been hunting us ever since the war" Spellina finished, she moved the fire back to where it belonged, and the room returned to normal as the fire changed from blue to orange.

No one said anything, so Rufus changed back into his normal form "We… don't know how it appeared, it just showed up unexpectedly"

Vanellope looked at him "B-but isn't there a reason of why that Duskus guy started this?"

"I don't know" Rufus rubbed his arm "We only know what's written on the book, and it only says the Mayor wanted to create the perfect racers…"

"But… doesn't that mean that 'thing' is a racer too?" Taffyta was still being hugged by Rancis, trying to have this information sucked in.

"There's no way to tell…" The witch racer shook her head as she picked her book "As far as we know, only the racers were the ones the Mayor choose for his experiments, and we are just five; the creature is left out"

Gloyd looked really uncomfortable now, but there was something else bugging him "Say, that book…"

Spellina looked at him "I found it one day in the forest" She looked at the book "It had no title, but I took it anyways. When I got back here I checked it, and I was really surprised to find such information about the war here" She showed it to Gloyd "But this was not printed, it was written by hand"

Both the prankster and the President looked at the pages, she was right, this was handwriting "Then it means a guy that survived the attack wrote it? But, how could they know about the experiments? Were they a spy?" Gloyd looked at Spellina, who just shook her head again.

"I don't know" She began to flip a few pages, and showed it again the two racers, pointing at a certain firm "The book was written by 'someone who goes by the name of the moon', it's the only clue we have got"

"Who's that person?" Minty looked over.

Rufus stood next to Spellina "We don't know that either! Me and Spelly searched about that guy in all the books we have here one day, but nothing came up"

Swizzle groaned as he leaned his head back"It's official, this will be harder than we thought"

"WAY harder than we thought…" Vanellope sighed, but then something clicked in her mind "Wait a minute, did you said you were five?"

"A few friends have disappeared thanks to that thing" Rufus looked down "Now it just Spellina, Viper and me"

"…Viper?" Gloyd blinked.

"Viper Hissfangz" Spellina looked at him, but they noticed she was worried now "He's the only 'Fear' racers as he's based after snakes. Viper is older than us, and faster, so he's usually out searching food and supplies for us…"

The racers looked at the empty cans scattered on the floor, then at the Halloween racers "But… where is he now?" Asked Rancis, this made both Rufus and Spellina to look at each other in worry and shock at they realized something.

"He… haven't returned for a while…" Rufus muttered "In fact, he left way earlier before you showed up…"

Minty widened her eyes "Does that means that…?"

**"…FUDGE!"** Spellina's scream was so loud the pets had to hide "You told me you saw that creature, didn't you!?"

Everyone widened their eyes.

"Viper must be in danger!" Without his wanting, the boy turned into a cat and began to dash all across the room in a flash, sending a few papers flying behind his trail **_"Whatshouldwedowhatshouldwedowhatshouldwedo!?"_**

The racers could do nothing but follow him with their gaze, until Gloyd stood up and picked him up in a swift movement.

"I'll go to find him" He said.

"What!?" Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy.

Vanellope glitched in front of him "No way Gloyd! You can't just say that after we encountered that thing!"

"But it didn't do anything, right?"

The President blinked as Gloyd left Rufus on the ground.

Gloyd looked at her and his friends "Look guys, I just fainted because that thing scared the bits off me, but not because it harmed me" Spook got to his shoulder looking worried, and the brunet picked his bat and hugged him to his chest to calm him down "If that creature is so scared of myself, then that means I'll be safe, don't you think?"

Spellina looked down in thought "Makes sense, if it's true… then you can move freely unlike any of us" She looked at him "I'll love to know why though, what's in your code that makes the Silhouette back off?"

"… Who knows…" Swizzle looked at his friend "But truth is, you're one lucky guy- I'm definitely not going to set a foot out there again!"

"Me neither, and you guys?" Minty looked at both Taffyta and Rancis, the two racers looked at each other, and then they quickly shook their heads.

"I may be ready for anything in the racetrack, but not in this case" The pink racer said.

Gloyd looked at Spook and set him in the sofa "Then that's it" He stood up and glanced over them "Then I'll-"

"WE will be going" Said Vanellope, making everyone to look at her "C'mon, I can glitch my way out, remember?"

Rufus then stepped in front "And I'm pretty much obliged to go, besides, you guys wouldn't even know where to look first" Spellina looked at him and nodded lightly.

"Then it's settled" She said "You three will head out to find our friend, I'll go open the entrance" The witch racer left after that.

Looking at their friends once more, Vanellope spoke "We will be back as soon as possible"

"Please be careful guys" Said Swizzle worriedly as he carried both Whipcream and Spook in his arms with Ty-Dye on his hat, the pets looking just as worried.

Minty and Taffyta gave them a thumps up, and Rancis just nodded at them, but they all looked very nervous. Sighing, Gloyd looked at Vanellope and Rufus, and then they headed to the exit where Spellina was waiting.

She opened the door and muttered a '_Be safe, Ruffy'_ before they left.

As they walked outside the hidden house and Rufus turned into a cat to start searching, they wished to know what really was going on.

But only he who went by the name of the moon knew that answer.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, what do you think guys? The next update is still in process, but I may finish it this weekend.**

**Thanks for reading, reviews are always welcomed!**

**~DreamerAwaken**


	4. He who goes by the 'Name of the Moon'

**A/N: OK I LIED, I TOOK FAR LONGER THAN I EXPECTED! Apologizes for such a late update! I don't really have any excuses, other than the fact I wasn't very motivated to type stuff, however I was able to push through the writer's block!**

**I hope you enjoy this new installment, remember to leave a review!**

* * *

><p>"Come on guys, don't stay behind"<p>

"Hey, you got four legs!"

_"Shh! Gloyd!"_

The three kids were making their way through the dark forest at a fast pace, it's been hardly an hour since they left Spellina's house. So many thoughts were filling the two Sugar Rush avatars' minds after everything they heard about the land- a mayor using his own islanders as test subjects? That alone brought up too many questions.

The main one being, where was Viper?

Rufus sniffed the ground as he kept waking at a very fast rhythm, which was understandable- no one wouldn't be in a hurry to find their friend who was lost in a forest where a monster was also hiding at. To avoid the last mentioned thing, Gloyd was walking behind of Vanellope and Rufus as they thought it would be a good idea in case the creature approached them from behind; and in the other way around, Vanellope would just pick Rufus and glitch somewhere safer, so they would be out of danger in both cases.

Or so they hoped.

Vanellope looked at Rufus as they tried to keep up with the feline "Do you pick anything? It's been a while now"

He kept sniffing "No… wait" The cat then stopped abruptly, and raised his nose up in the air to keep sniffing, this making the raven girl to stop her tracks but also making Gloyd collide on her. She turned on him with a dull look as the boy just scratched the back of his head.

"What is it?" Gloyd hoped the boy found something to end the uncomfortable situation. Rufus' tail suddenly puffed and he started to run away from them "Hey!"

"Come on! Quick!" The cat called after them as he was slowly disappearing from their sight. Not wanting to stay far behind, the two racers caught up with him thanks to Vanellope's glitching and keep running to see where Rufus was guiding them.

"Is that him?" She asked as they jumped over some rock candies forming a new rocky path. Rufus just panted out as he sneaked around the rocks to avoid hurting himself "I'm not sure!"

The pumpkin headed boy looked puzzled before almost tripping "Whoa-! What is that even supposed to mean!?" He quickly regained his balance and caught up with the others.

After jumping another set of rocks, the path began to spread and formed a new landscape. Instead of having trees growing everywhere, these were lined a few meters away from the rock candy path, though the tones of grey and dark purple preserved. Gloyd seemed to recognize that appearance from their land "Is this a… racing track?" He looked around and saw that far away from where they were standing there was a cliff with a huge windmill on the top.

The cat boy kept sniffing the ground franticly "Yes, but that's not important!" He looked up at them "I sense his smell! Viper was here!" Looking somewhere else, Rufus saw something at the distance. He ran towards it and when he reached it, he sat down "Oh no…"

"What?" Both Vanellope and Gloyd got to his side, and they saw a few cans scattered in front of the cat "What's wrong with those?" Vanellope kneeled next to Rufus, who had his ears dropped down.

"…He was coming home" He pointed to the cans with his paw weakly "T-those are the ones he always gets for me and Spellina…"

Gloyd seemed to understand as he looked at him sadly, and then put his hand on the boy's head "Don't lose faith just yet"

"He's right" Vanellope encouraged the cat "Rufus, if he was holding these, then that means his smell is on them!" She picked one can "Sniff it buddy! Lead the way!"

Feeling new motivation and energy, he sniffed the can for a few seconds "Here!" He looked to their right, were a bush showed sights of being stomped on "Viper must have gone that way!" He ran towards the new discovered path with the two racers stepping on the back of his paws, literally "Ouch! Watch it!"

"Sorry!"

They kept running through dead bushes and jumping over huge roots, but it didn't last long. Just a few meters away from where they started Rufus stopped and began to sniff the ground, calm at first, but then it seemed something was wrong as he kept turning from side to side in less than a blink of an eye "I can't be…" He muttered and turned around sharply to smell the can once more, he returned to sniff the ground "Oh, no, no, no!" He said panicked.

Vanellope gave the can to Gloyd as she looked at the cat "What's wrong now?"

Rufus looked at her, his disbelief returning in full "The smell ends here! I can't sense it anywhere else!"

The President looked shocked "Are you serious!?" She began to look around, not finding anything like footsteps or a track to follow "N-now what!? Should we head back?"

"No! I have to find Viper!" He shouted back, this leading into a discussion between the two about deciding what to do.

In both cases, they had their nerves at peak- and the fact the monster would show up once more just made it worse.

As they kept discussing, Gloyd glanced at the can that contained pumpkin pudding; what should they do now? He was feeling as lost and stressed as his friends did, but what good would it do if he joined in? Sighing, and making sure they weren't paying attention to him, Gloyd opened the can- maybe a snack would make him think clearly.

However, as he sniffed the bright orange substance, the boy widened his eyes slightly.

He saw something.

_..._

_A field filled with the biggest, most sparkly pumpkins he had ever seen. _

_They covered a whole landscape with grinning Jack-O-Lanterns and golden lights reflecting on the sugar sparkles._

_He then heard giggling, his own giggling, but a much younger version of it- and there was someone else, laughing next to him._

_Everything ended as the picture of the full moon showed up._

_..._

Gloyd blinked several times, before looking at the can once more, and leaving it over a nearby rock.

He was feeling light headed, just like back on town.

But this time it was different, he could still feel his surroundings, and the boy had the feeling… someone was showing him a path, or telling them to go somewhere.

Trusting this odd feeling for a second, he looked ahead, and found a clue they all seemed to have skipped.

"Rufus, look at that!" He pointed to a nearby tree standing a few bushes ahead of them.

It had a large slash across it.

"What about it?" The raven girl blinked "Some animal must have done that..."

Gloyd shook his head, there was something about it and he knew it; he walked towards the tree carrying Rufus under his arm, and then he lifted the cat to face the slash "I think you should sniff it"

"Um…" The black cat looked confused, but still did as told "…This is weird"

Vanellope walked next to them "How so?"

Rufus kept sniffing, and then snorted as he rubbed his paw over his nose "I smell… metal"

"Metal?" Gloyd blinked as he looked at the slash, a sudden thought crossed his mind as he noticed how thin and perfect it was "…Should we worry about it?"

"…Dunno" Rufus looked at him, but then he touched the slash "But that's not what's calling my attention. I don't know who or what made this slash, but it wants to be found"

Vanellope looked confused; the black cat pointed to the slash once more "Didn't you notice?" The two kids looked up.

The slash was shaped as an arrow, pointing to where the windmills Gloyd saw earlier were standing.

Vanellope, finally understanding the now menacing signal, picked Rufus to make him face her "It must be a trap Ruffy! What if whoever made this slash is luring us there!?"

"W-what if THEY have Viper!?" He said panicking and placing his paws on her cheeks. Gloyd looked at them; their tension and fear were starting to worry him.

"G-guys, I think we shouldn't be fighting-" He muttered as he stepped closer to them.

**"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"** The two said as they faced the boy with angry eyes, making the prankster feel tiny in front of the arguing duo, before they reassumed their freak out time.

The pumpkin headed hooligan just watched them in silence, trying to order his thoughts- so this might be a trap, someone must be luring them, and it was probably the Silhouette; after all, there were no more monsters in the island…

_Right?_

He thought about it some more, no, Spellina said the Silhouette alone was hunting the racers down. That one thing made him understand that Viper was probably taken by the monster just as Rufus feared. Gloyd looked at the mark on the tree as to confirm his thoughts, but there was something troubling him: The mark was indeed thin; there was no way a set of claws would have done such a perfect cut.

It was probably made with a knife.

So to him it was a vicious cycle- he got the hints that the monsters he encountered a while ago took this Viper guy, but then this odd mark on the tree made him doubt if that creature made it to start with, and then he returned to the main point again just to have it repeat all over his mind.

Gloyd decided to leave it aside as it was making his head spin by looking at Vanellope and Rufus, who were impressibly still in their freak-out moment- should he blame them? _Nah._

Should he do something stupid to call their attention to hopefully end the not-so important discussion so they can keep searching and get out of the forest?

Now _that's_ more like it.

"Hey, bet'cha ya guys can't get me!" He shouted as he ran towards the direction the arrow was pointing at. This made the two racers drop their bickering with a gasp and sprint right behind of Gloyd.

"What are you doing!?" Rufus meowed out loud as he tried to catch up. Vanellope looked at Gloyd in disbelief from behind, just what was he doing!? She glitched to catch him, but he was able to avoid getting caught.

Gloyd, who was a really fast runner out of his kart, dashed between the dead trees that made yet another path; but it was weird, it seemed the dry bushes were cut in a way to pass freely between them- however this wasn't a racing track for what they could tell, the earth was solid, no dirt track to be seen.

Someone must have done a pathway.

They keep going ahead at a fast pace; jumping over rocks and avoiding getting their feet stuck on anything like roots or bushes, the three avatars were about to reach the windmill. To match the island, this windmill was broken, with the spinning panels torn in places and one hanging loosely; it moved slightly with the weak wind, making an uncomfortable creaking sound.

They also saw that ahead right next to the abandoned windmill, was a cliff… and something was glowing beneath it.

Gloyd felt it once more; the light headed state, and the odd power of something telling him to come closer. He ran even faster to see what was waiting for them.

However, as they tried to see what was creating the odd glow, Rufus sniffed the air, and made a disgusted sound that stopped him on his track "Gobs! That stinks!" He covered his nose with his paw, growling lightly. As a cat, he was more sensible to the smells, but the kids weren't; Vanellope noticed Rufus was far from them and turned to Gloyd.

"Hold it Pumpkinhead! Ruff nagged behind!" She called, but Gloyd paid no mind- they were so close! The President didn't share this thought however, as she charged once more and glitched towards him, catching the boy by his jacket's collar "I said hold-! Whoa!"

With the pressure he was using on his legs to run faster and the sudden thug holding him back, Gloyd couldn't help but yelp as he lost his balance, making both trip and roll towards the cliff due to how the landscape was titled like!

"Guys!" Rufus screamed and ran after them.

They were about to reach the peak, that might turn into a dangerous fall, but Gloyd reacted faster and grabbed what seemed to be a tangled, black licorice root from a near tree and pulled it. It was strong enough to stop them from rolling further away, and it was great news because they were mere feet away from falling. They sighed relieved and stood clumsily.

Vanellope groaned as she rubbed her head "Nice going…"

"Excuse me!" Gloyd frowned "You were the one who-!"

_Ssss!_

Both of them widened their eyes and quickly looked down at Gloyd's hand- he didn't grab a root, he grabbed a black licorice Python! They screamed as Gloyd threw the snake away, but it was really mad someone interrupted its nap.

Hissing louder, it sneaked closer to them, opening its mouth to throw a successful bite, but it yelped as it felt a pain soaring through it, coming from its back side.

**"MEWROW!"** Rufus mewed loudly as he dug his claws further into the Python's body, making it twist with pain. The black Licorice snake moved so much it got closer to the cliff and fell as the cat released it. Looking down, the racers saw the reptile's still body on a rock, it was dead "Viper's gonna hate me..." Muttered the cat.

"Still, thanks man…" Said Gloyd as Vanellope sighed in relief, but the boy blinked as he saw Rufus covering his nose with his paws "Hey, what's wrong? It didn't bite you, did it?"

Rufus shook his head "No, something stinks REALLY bad!" He whined "How come you guys don't feel it!?"

"Maybe if you turn back to normal it wouldn't bother ya, kitty cat" Vanellope rolled her eyes. Rufus just replied with an _'Oh'_ and changed back to his original appearance, sighing relieved as the smell was bothering him no longer.

However, he widened his eyes as he saw what was below the cliff. The other two racers glanced below, and their eyes also widened, mainly Gloyd's.

It was a field of pumpkins. But even though the kids were pretty far up to see any details, Gloyd knew this place wasn't the same one he saw in his vision.

For beginners, the pumpkin weren't even orange, they were green! The light they saw on their way came from the pumpkins, it was an odd green glow.

But that wasn't what shocked them most.

"Guys look!" Rufus pointed below "It's Viper! He's right there!"

Indeed, there was someone laying between the pumpkins right at the center of the field. Vanellope squinted her eyes to try and look better, but all she could see was some kind of a huge snake like shape.

"…He doesn't shape shifts like you do, right?" She looked at Rufus who just shook his head.

"Nah, I'm the only one! Viper can talk to snakes though- **wait who cares!**" He exclaimed loudly and turned to Gloyd "We have to get down there! He might be hurt!"

The prankster nodded "Look, I think we should try and do it like this" He looked at Vanellope "We go there and bring Viper up here with your glitch while Rufus stays here, if something appears, he'll shout out to warn us" Gloyd looked at Rufus "I mean, the only thing we should worry about is the Silhouette, right?"

Rufus nodded, but he looked rather unsure about it. They didn't give it much attention and Gloyd grabbed Vanellope's hand, and right after she nodded, they started glitching their way down. The boy was starting to get used to the feeling of his body receiving small shock waves once they reached the ground.

Suddenly they were able to understand Rufus' fuss about the smell earlier as they covered their noses and made a disgusted noise.

_"Rotten pumpkins…!"_ She coughed.

Gloyd rubbed his nose "Huh, reminds me when mom's crops don't turn out that well!" He sniffed the air, and luckily he stopped feeling the bothersome smell "Take deep breaths and it'll go away, Princess…"

She did as told, though it took her a longer time to get used. Vanellope wiped a tear away from her eye as it showed the rotten odor was too much for her at first, but it eventually dissolved into nothing "Seriously, how can you come up with these solutions?"

"Experiences, both good and bad ones with my past pranks" He shrugged "Gotta learn from your mistakes"

Deciding to leave the chit-chat aside, the two walked to where Viper was at a fast pace. Gloyd couldn't help but stare at the pumpkins- they were mushy, with an almost melted appearance; the pumpkins that probably once had crafted faces and smiles now had some bizarre designs and sad faces due to some parts falling apart due to the rotting. He guessed the green light was caused because of the odd color the pumpkins gained over the years, but surprisingly the candle that light them from the inside were almost intact, like if someone was more worried about lighting them than replacing them…

Vanellope walked ahead and reached for Viper, she kneeled down to examine him. Viper Hissfanz was a boy with an oddly older appearance than theirs; his hair was black with a thin dyed green line that covered one of his eyes while his skin was slightly tanned, he was dressed with a strange green, sleeveless hood that was shaped like a snake's head, and the hood had a 'tail' that ended near his feet, making clear why he looked like a huge snake from far away. He also wore baggy black pants with black shoes.

"Seems like one of those break dancers Swizzle likes to see on TV" Gloyd looked curiously at the boy, but soon he noticed something shocking "Whoa! What happened to him!?"

The raven girl gasped as she saw a large scratch on the boy's torso, which was glitching slightly to fix the damage; it seemed like it was a deep cut, considering how long he was out here in the forest.

Whoever made this had this all planned.

Gloyd looked at Vanellope nervously "Let's get outta here, quickly" She nodded before they got to each side of Viper. The prankster lifted him with Vanellope's help and left him resting on his back, releasing a groan.

"At least he's conscious…" She muttered and grabbed Gloyd's hand "C'mon, hopefully my glitching won't make things worse-"

"GUYS LOOK OUT!" They looked up to see Rufus shouting after them hysterically. Out of instinct, Vanellope looked back quickly, yelped, and glitched a few meters to the right. The sudden glitching caught Gloyd off guard which made his head spin a bit, but as he was about to ask her what was going on…

_SLASH! _**SPLAT!**

He widened his eyes and looked up. And they suddenly understood who was the responsible of the slashes.

A Reaper was there, carrying a huge, deadly scythe that was buried between the rotten pumpkins near from where they were standing mere seconds ago.

The creature in front of them was just like the horror books portrayed the Death; with a height that can be compared to the Silhouette's, he was wearing a long, black cape torn in places around the sleeves and the base, however, they noticed this Reaper had no bones like in the illustrations. Or a body in general. They glanced at where the creature was holding the scythe, just to see the black handle floating mere centimeters away from the sleeves as if invisible hands were holding it.

Both kids couldn't see anything else as Rufus shouted once more **"RUN!"**

The frightening creature turned his head at the trembling racers, they saw nothing but a black hole. He lifted his scythe from the rotten pumpkin in less than a heartbeat and charged at them once more. Gloyd pushed Vanellope away and he jumped back, avoiding the attack by little.

"Vanellope! Quick!" He called after her. The President got to his side and they started to glitch their way up the cliff.

But the reaper had another plans.

He looked up in time to see Vanellope glitching one last time to reach the peak, and threw the scythe straight at her. A clean cut was made on her arm, making her yelp in pain and accidentally dropping Gloyd before reaching Rufus' side "GLOYDIE!"

_"AAAAH!"_ He screamed as he fell, he closed his eyes expecting the worse, but luckily he fell over a huge pumpkin that was firm enough to act like a pillow, sending him flying over the Reaper, who just followed the boy with his head silently.

Rufus got next to Vanellope and stared worriedly at both her arm and Viper, the slashes were glitching and releasing bits of colors "This looks bad, you guys need to get those injuries healed!"

"We can't!" She widened her eyes in panic "G- I released Gloyd! He's down there!"

"WHAT!?" The cat boy stared at her in shock "Go get him! Do something!"

Vanellope looked down and tried to glitch, but she could feel nothing but a huge pain soaring through the upper part of her body "Agh!" She grabbed her arm, the glitching just made the injure worse by expanding it.

Gloyd was on his own now.

Rufus picked up Viper "Vanellope, we need to leave and get you both treated!" She gasped and shook her head "I-I know it's the worst idea I have proposed so far but-!"

"It IS the worst idea!" She shouted "How do you expect me to leave like nothing!?"

**"JUST GO, VANELLOPE!"**

Both kids turned their heads quickly and looked down as they heard the boy's shout.

Gloyd jumped to avoid another hit as he looked up "I'll be fine! You leave and come to pick me up soon!"

The President just frowned "Are you crazy!?"

"I am!" He shouted as he faced the silent creature "Just leave while you can! Don't wait until the other monster shows up!"

Widening his eyes at the last sentence, the cat boy grabbed her hand. And the two of them were gone from the place before she could do anything about it.

The Reaper looked at Gloyd once more, and stood up straight. This composure made the prankster uncomfortable as he backed a few steps trying not to trip with the pumpkins. The boy turned his head all ways to try and find a way out.

But the field was in a hole surrounded but the cliffs. There was no way out for him this time.

Looking at the monster again, he gulped "L-let's hope they get back here fast…" The Death raised his weapon once more.

* * *

><p>King Candy sat alone on his throne, a worried frown was clear for anyone to see. He was swinging one of his legs softly as he thought things over and over.<p>

Giving a defeating sigh he decided to stand up and take care of some paperwork left to do; now that Vanellope was gone, a pile of her duties was added to his, not that he really minded. But as he was about to get the folder and start working, there was a knock "Yeth?"

"Your majesty" The Oreo guard answered from behind the doors "You have a visit from the Orangeboars, sir"

King Candy smiled lightly "Ah! No problem, let them in!" The doors opened and the two adults entered, Lady Pumpkin right next to Lord Gourd.

Once in front of the King, they bowed "Thanks for letting us in…" She said.

"A good day to thee, King Candy" Said Lord Gourd as he placed his hat over his chest.

"It'th nice to thee you two!" The King left the folder over a table, and turned to the other adults "It'th not really common to thee you coming into my cathtle though, ith there thomething you need my help with?"

Lady Pumpkin quickly nodded "Oh, yes we do! It's about that island! We noticed a little trouble!"

Blinking at this, the King straightened up "A little trouble you thay? Which kind of trouble?"

"The 'I-know-that-island-but-forgot-its-name trouble'" She said very quickly, showing she was feeling nervous. Lord Gourd grabbed her hand to calm her down with a hum.

The pumpkin man looked at King Candy "We do not know this struggling feeling, good lord" He sighed "As our child left, our worries extended"

King Candy looked down in thought, rubbing his chin with his hand "Tho, I wathn't the only one..." He looked at the worried parents with a quick glance before walking to the board where the map was pinned. The Orangeboars walked next to him and they all stared at the map in silence.

The kids have been gone for a while now.

* * *

><p>"Will you just hold still!?" Hissed Spellina "I'm just about to drop EVERYTHING and leave you with that fudging wound!"<p>

Vanellope just glared "Then do it quickly! Gloyd's in danger right now!" She squeamed a bit as the slash was healing, very slowly, making her feel an uncomfortable static shock.

The witch themed racer just huffed as she soaked the cotton candy fluff she was using with a herbal solution "The thing will take a damn while anyway! And if you keep moving I can assure you that it'll take longer to heal!"

The other four avatars were around Rufus as he explained what happened as they found Viper, every once in a while glancing back to see both Spellina rambling with Vanellope, and Viper resting on the sofa with his wound treated, but he was still unconscious.

"Are you kidding me!?" Rancis made the cat boy to turn his head towards the blond racer "The 'Death' appeared and tried to attack you guys!?"

Minty had worry written all over her features "But I thought that the Silhouette was the only monster in this place! When did that other creature appeared?"

"I-I told you all! I don't know!" The ears of his cat hood lowered back "We just saw Viper fainted at the middle of the field and-!" Swizzle stepped in front, cutting the boy's sentence.

"Who cares! You left Gloyd behind!" He snapped "He must be now getting slaughtered or something!"

Vanellope glared at him darkly "NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN MALARKEY!" Spellina just rolled her eyes as she finished her work on the President's arm "Gloyd told us to leave! But I didn't want to run away even if the wound couldn't let me glitch!"

"It was a matter of seconds before the Silhouette showed up too!" Rufus tried to reason with the darevil "We didn't have any choice but to get here safely to get both Viper and Vanellope treated!"

Swizzle let the words sink in slowly, but he was still mad "But now what!? He's still with that monster! What's the plan!?"

"My gob, shut up..." Muttered Spellina as she sat next to Viper. The pets were gathered right next to a heartbroken-looking Spook, who was cuddled against his beloved master's pumpkin hat that he left before heading out. Spellina just sighed as she saw the poor animals trying to cheer their friend up with no result.

Vanellope looked at the pets, and then at her arm still healing "I'll go and rescue him once this damn thing heals, but there's something that needs to be done" She looked at her racers "You guys need to return to Sugar Rush, and tell my father about what's happening in this place"

Taffyta widened her eyes "We? What about you?"

"They need our help..." She glanced at the two Trickery Treat racers as they looked worriedly at Viper "We can't all leave at once, me and Gloyd are probably the only ones that can stay, but you guys on the other side..."

Rancis crossed his arms as if he was thinking something, then looked up "Do you think we should bring the other avatars?"

"Like a backup?" Swizzle looked at the Reese cup racer who nodded.

Minty looked at Vanellope "The Sweet Tooth racers might lend us a hand!"

"Good idea Mintz" Vanellope nodded "Bring Manny or Fang over, just remember we still need racers back at Sugar Rush so the gamers won't suspect. I don't think it would be a smart idea to bring people from other games, the things out there would give them a Game Over..." She looked down in thought as she noticed the slim chances they had in order to defend themselves, however she saw another important point "But to take you all to the boat and start this, we need Gloyd to take you there safely..."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, for a short while anyways.

"...Well, what are you waiting for?" Everyone turned to see Spellina, who had one eyebrow lifted "Wanna save your prince?"

"What kind of question is that!?" Vanellope glared at her, just to then blink confused as Spellina moved her head to signal her something. She looked down at her arm.

It was completely healed.

The witch themed racer pointed to the exit "I would sprint outta here if I were you" Vanellope turned at her once more, smirked, and nodded.

"Thanks, Witchy" Despite the glare she received from the female racer, the President glitched her way out of the house. As she stood alone in the forest, a look of determination was formed on her features.

She glitched her way to where Gloyd was.

And no matter the situation, she'll make sure they all returned together.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile at the pumpkin field, the sound of the slashing was echoing through the nearest areas around the cliff.<p>

"Agh!" Gloyd's scream joined the echoing as he kept trying to avoid getting slaughtered by the Reaper, who was starting to get frustrated by his continuous missing streak. He charged at Gloyd, finally being able to smack him away with his arm. The boy's back collided with a rock, making him groan in pain for a short-lived second before gasping as he saw the monster throwing over himself again.

Reacting fast, he grabbed a pumpkin and threw it straight at the Reaper's hood, making him to stop the attack and struggling to get the rotten treat out of his not-existing face as Gloyd moved out of the way, running towards a rocky zone in where he hoped he could hold himself a little longer.

But he was almost out of energy to keep sprinting away of the Death's grasp; what was he supposed to do now? And where the hell was Vanellope? Unknowingly for him, the girl was being as fast as she could to reach out from him.

No matter where he saw it, he was near for screwing up things, and the only way he could possibly avoid this was by running away with what little amount of energy he had left. Gloyd was about to reach the place when he heard something coming straight at him. Out of instinct he threw himself at the ground as fast as possible, avoiding just by little the scythe that came spinning right behind of him! He looked back in panic as he Reaper had successfully removed the distracting pumpkin from his face and was slowly coming after Gloyd.

The prankster looked ahead to notice the scythe was stuck by the rocks, opportunity he took to run and hide behind the huge boulders. He gasped as he tried to catch his breath back, but soon covered his mouth as he heard the deadly weapon being removed.

And the rustling of dead grass and dry leaves coming straight at him at a low pace.

Gloyd tried to remain quiet, he was safely behind a huge purple rock candy and there were many other rocks, but he was starting to get terrified by the rustling sound getting closer and closer. From the corner of his eye he saw the monster circling the rocks, searching for his prey. The prankster pressed his back against the rock and slid carefully, trying to avoid getting on the Reaper's line of vision.

He then noticed the place began to lit faintly, but not because of the pumpkin's candles; this light came from... above.

Gloyd looked up.

The clouds, for the very first time in years for the inhabitants of the island, were parting aside, letting the moonlight peek through them. It was the most bright light Gloyd had ever seen, brighter then Sugar Rush's moon.

As he gazed at the moon showing up slowly, he began to hear something, giggles. The same young laughs he heard before- but why now?

Why _here?_

Vanellope finally arrived to the cliff and looked down trying to find her boyfriend, but as much as she looked he was no where to be seen, and it panicked her.

"Gloyd!" She shouted, the echo reaching his ears.

But someone's else too.

Gloyd fixated his sight at the cliff and saw his salvation right there, but a much bigger danger too.

The Silhouette was standing there, Vanellope had attracted it!

Not even thinking he shouted "GET AWAY! HE SILHOUETTE IS BEHIND OF YOU!" Vanellope heard him and gasped as she turned around and saw the monster; the President didn't lose her time as she glitched away. However, it did not move to catch her. It was looking below the cliff. It was looking at Gloyd.

The prankster, not being able to notice this, blinked at the odd behavior the monster was holding as Vanellope was standing there as if frozen. Why did it stood there? Wasn't it supposed to attack anyone on sight? But then a realization hit him hard.

He had shouted.

And just after he thought that, the sound of a slash echoed in his ears as a clean cut was made on the rock he was hiding at, the upper half of it was sent flying to the side, exposing Gloyd literally to the Death.

"FUDGE...!" He tried to run, but it was too late when he reacted. The Reaper grabbed Gloyd's leg and threw against a big pile of rotten pumpkins, the strength of the collision nearly made him pass out, leaving his head spinning and way too slow to register the danger he was now in.

Vanellope suddenly snapped out of her shocked state and shouted "Gloyd! Hold on!" She started to glitch her way towards the boy as fast as she could.

But the Reaper was already standing in front of the weak boy, slowly raising his weapon to make the final attack. Gloyd could do nothing instead of following the scythe with his sight in his state, the echoing shouts of the raven girl falling on deaf ears.

The scythe was right centered at the now exposed full moon as it was lifted above the Death's frame.

Gloyd's eyes then widened slightly. He saw the vision.

_The field of beautiful pumpkins, the giggles, and then he felt the warm feeling of a friendship being born. _

_A friendship between him, and someone with white eyes..._

"Move!" Shouted Vanellope.

_That glowed with a soft..._

The Reaper threw his scythe straight at Gloyd's head as a sudden burst of energy reacted the boy's vocals, taking him completely out of his dizziness.

**"DIM LIGHT!"**

_SLASH!_

A desperate scream came from the raven girl, who just feet away from where the Death was standing "GLOYD!" Silence then returned right after that... But, she noticed something in her shock.

The Reaper was shaking madly.

_'Ch...'_ He muttered, the voice sounding broken _'Child...?'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, what do you guys think? Does this new character rings something for you?**

**Thanks for reading! Will try to keep up the next update!**

**~DreamerAwaken**


End file.
